Decorative gift bag balloon Holder

ABSTRACT

A balloon holder simulating a small gift bag comprises a small decorative bag, a core held within the small decorative bag and having sufficient weight to hold at least one buoyant balloon in place, and decorative material secured to the core in a position to conceal the core from casual view. The decorative material preferably is formed from a length of decorative sheet material having its upper portion cut into a series of strips adapted to extend outwardly from the covering simulating a small decorative bag. In one embodiment useful for a larger size covering simulating a decorative gift bag, an inner liner is fitted within the covering with the core being held to the interior of the lower portion of the inner liner and the decorative material being held to the interior of the upper periphery of the inner liner.

PRIOR APPLICATION

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 09/909,423 filedJul. 19, 2001.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a decorative balloon holder simulatinga small gift bag for securing one or more buoyant balloons in positionon a tabletop or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various devices for holding a buoyant party balloon in a desiredposition on a tabletop have been proposed, but such products are oftennot very attractive for use at a festive occasion such as a birthdayparty, or are relatively expensive to manufacture. The productsdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,011,447; 5,016,848; 5024011; 5,035,391;5,074,510; 5,662,510 or 5,755,419, for example, are manufactured bymolding synthetic plastics or comparable techniques and the resultingproducts can not usually be made festive in appearance withoutadditional expense or bother for the consumer.

Balloon holders formed of a core of weighted mass of compacted sand, orcement and sand mixtures, have been proposed that are wrapped in afestive paper, and such balloon holders have met a need for inexpensivebut festively decorated party props to secure buoyant balloons. In anearlier patent by one of the inventors, U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,798 grantedFeb. 25, 2003, an attachment for securing the string of the balloon isheld directly to the core and a decorative layer of material is heldaround the core to provide a festive balloon holder that can bemanufactured inexpensively and yet can hold a balloon securely in place.

Other balloon holders have been used that are formed of a small gift bagthat may have a weight such as small lead fishing weights or sand placedin the bottom of the gift bag with decorative tissue paper placedloosely inside to cover the weight. Such balloon holders simulating agift bag are festive and very desirable for many party occasions wherebuoyant balloons need to be held in place on a tabletop or the like.

However, such balloon holders simulating a gift bag are typically madeindividually and are not manufactured readily by automatic techniquesnor can they be shipped, stored or displayed in a retail environmentsatisfactorily. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention toprovide a decorative balloon holder that may simulate a gift bag and yetcan be manufactured, stored, shipped and displayed at retail in a mannerpreserving the decorative appeal of the balloon holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a balloon holder simulating a giftbag is provided by a small decorative bag having a core with sufficientweight to hold at least one buoyant balloon positioned within the smalldecorative bag, and decorative material secured to the core in aposition to conceal the core from casual view. The decorative materialis preferably formed from a length of decorative sheet material havingits upper portion cut into a series of strips adapted to extendoutwardly from the decorative bag and its lower portion held around theperiphery of the core. The decorative bag may have handles extendingfrom an upper portion thereof to serve as an attachment for a string ofone or more balloons, and the upper portions of the handles maypreferably be fixed together.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the core is held to theinterior of the small decorative bag. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, an inner liner is fitted within the small decorativebag, and the core is held to the interior of the lower portion of theinner liner and the decorative material is held to the interior of theupper periphery of the inner liner.

These and other objects, and advantages and features of the presentinvention will become apparent from the description given below which ismade in conjunction with the following drawing figures:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a balloon holder according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a balloon holder according to anotherembodiment of the present invention suitable for a larger gift bag;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a party balloon 10 has a string 12 tied tohandles 14 of a small decorative gift bag 16 forming part of the balloonholder 18 of the first illustrated embodiment of the present invention.The small decorative gift bag is suitable for resting on a tabletop 20,and the balloon holder 18 has sufficient weight to counteract thebuoyancy of one or more balloons 10.

FIG. 2 illustrates the construction of the first embodiment of a balloonholder of the present invention, and a core 22 formed of an inexpensivebut weighty material such as compressed sand held by an adhesive or asand, cement and water mixture, is formed into a shape corresponding tothe interior of the gift bag. Preferably, the core 22 is trapezoidal insection to taper towards the top of he bag, and a mixture ofapproximately 72% sand, 24% cement and 4% water has been foundsatisfactory to hold one or more typical Mylar balloons inflated withhelium.

Decorative material extends outwardly from the open top of the smallgift bag 16, and as illustrated in FIG. 2, the decorative material isformed from a length 24 of decorative sheet material having its upperportion 28 cut into a series of strips 30 adapted to extend outwardlyfrom the open top of the small decorative bag 16, as illustrated inFIG. 1. The lower portion 32 of the decorative material is held aroundthe periphery of the core 22 by orthogonal strips of tape 34 and 36. Inthis way, the decorative material is held to the core 22 around itsgenerally rectangular periphery to conceal the inner core 22 from casualview by forming a decorative effect about the rectangular opening in thetop of the small gift bag 16 when the strips 30 are arranged to extendoutwardly from the open gift bag 16.

In preferred form, the core 22 may be adhered to the bottom 38 of thegift bag 38 by an adhesive, tape or the like to secure the assemblytogether, and the upper portions of the handles 14 may be securedtogether by adhesive, tape, fine line or the like. By holding thedecorative material to the core 22, the decorative material will stay inplace during shipment, storage or handling. A decorative balloon holdersimulating a gift bag is thus suitable for manufacture reliably byautomated techniques and can be shipped securely and handled at retailwhile maintaining its attractiveness to the consumer.

Fig. illustrates an embodiment having a larger gift bag 40. As shown inFIG. 4, an inner liner 41 conforming generally to the shape of theinterior of the gift bag 40 is fitted within the gift bag 40. The innerliner may be formed of cardstock and is folded into shape and secured bytape 41a.

The core 42 is preferably wrapped in protective paper 43 secured by tape44, and the core 42 is held to the interior of the lower portion 46 ofthe inner liner 41 by one or more strips of tape 48 engaging the bottomof the wrapped core 42 and the sides of the inner liner 41. Thedecorative material 50 formed in a manner similar to the decorativematerial 30 of the first embodiment is held to the interior of the upperperiphery 52 of the inner liner 41.

By use of the inner liner 41, a balloon weight formed of a larger sizegift bag will have support to maintain its decorative shape andassemblage during handling and shipment. As in the first embodiment, theupper portions of the handles 14 may be secured together by adhesive,tape, fine line or the like to complete the assemblage.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the presentinvention will be understood from the detailed description made above;and it is understood that the present invention is not limited by anydetails set forth above, but by the appended claims.

1. A balloon holder, comprising a small decorative bag adapted to bepositioned on a tabletop, a core formed of a weighty mass of densematerial provided with sufficient weight for holding at least onebuoyant party balloon in place, said core being positioned within saiddecorative bag, and means including decorative material secured withinsaid decorative bag in a position to conceal said core from casual viewand extending outwardly from said decorative bag as the balloon holderis displayed for retail sale for providing decorative appeal for theballoon holder at retail display.
 2. A balloon holder as set forth inclaim 1, said core being secured to the interior of said decorative bag.3. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 2, said core having upstandingsidewalls and said decorative material being formed from a length ofdecorative sheet material having its upper portion cut into a series ofstrips adapted to extend outwardly from said decorative bag with itslower portion secured around the periphery of the upstanding sidewallsof said core.
 4. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 3, saidsidewalls being generally trapezoidal in shape.
 5. A balloon holder asset forth in claim 2, said core having upstanding sidewalls and saiddecorative material having its lower portion secured around theperiphery of the upstanding sidewalls of said core.
 6. A balloon holderas set forth in claim 2, said decorative material being formed from alength of decorative sheet material having its upper portion cut into aseries of strips adapted to extend outwardly from said decorative giftbag and its lower portion held within said decorative gift bag.
 7. Aballoon holder as set forth in claim 2, said core having sidewallsgenerally trapezoidal in shape to taper towards the upper portion ofsaid decorative bag.
 8. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 1, saidcore having sidewalls generally trapezoidal in shape to taper towardsthe upper portion of said decorative bag.
 9. A balloon holder as setforth in claim 1, said decorative material being formed from a length ofdecorative sheet material having its upper portion cut into a series ofstrips adapted to extend outwardly from said decorative gift bag and itslower portion held within said decorative gift bag.
 10. A balloon holderas set forth in claim 1, said core having upstanding sidewalls and saiddecorative material being formed from a length of decorative sheetmaterial having its upper portion cut into a series of strips adapted toextend outwardly from said decorative bag with its lower portion securedaround the periphery of the upstanding sidewalls of said core.
 11. Aballoon holder as set forth in claim 10, said sidewalls being generallytrapezoidal in shape.
 12. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 1, saidcore having upstanding sidewalls and said decorative material having itslower portion secured around the periphery of the upstanding sidewallsof said core.
 13. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 12, saidsidewalls being generally trapezoidal in shape.
 14. A holder for aballoon as set forth in claim 1, including an inner liner fitted withinsaid decorative bag, said core being held to the interior of the lowerportion of said inner liner and said decorative material being held tothe interior of the upper periphery of said inner liner.
 15. A balloonholder, comprising a small decorative bag, means including a core formedof a weighty mass of dense material provided with sufficient weight forholding at least one buoyant party balloons in place, said core beingpositioned within said decorative bag and having upstanding sidewalls,and means including decorative material secured around the periphery ofthe upstanding sidewalls of said core and extending outwardly from saiddecorative bag as the balloon holder is displayed for retail sale forproviding decorative appeal for the balloon holder at retail display.16. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 15, said core being securedto the interior of said decorative bag.
 17. A balloon holder as setforth in claim 16, said sidewalls generally being trapezoidal in shapeto taper towards the upper portion of said decorative bag.
 18. A balloonholder as set forth in claim 15, said sidewalls generally beingtrapezoidal in shape to taper towards the upper portion of saiddecorative bag.